Strong Hearts: Sequel to Where Does My Heart Beat Now
by Sympathy Heart
Summary: Just when the Dawson's thought they had everything under control their lives are pitched into chaos; Ellen struggles with the thought of motherhood & Casey faces losing Tate to his ex when she shows up, not to mention being reacquainted with an undesirable relative. It will take a strong will & a strong heart to overcome the challenges. R&R!
1. Prologue

**Strong Hearts**

**Prologue**

_August_

The flashing lights of the ambulance kept Ellen focused on the task at hand. Whenever those lights went on her attitude changed dramatically. All she had heard over the radio was that the emergency she was on her way to was a collision on the highway leading south of her former hometown on Paris, Texas. No big deal. She had been on many calls involving motor vehicle wrecks, each having their own level of gore. Not one of them had made her want to quit her job as a paramedic/ER nurse.

"Two minutes out." The driver called over the radio she wore on her belt.

What Ellen thought would be a routine motor vehicle accident was about to test her abilities… and sanity. The moment the ambulance pulled to a stop on the highway and the doors flew open she faced what would be her worst wreck to date. A blue Mustang was crushed underneath the back of a tractor trailer, the roof sheared off and scattered all over the pavement along with millions of pieces of glass. She knew from the condition of the car there was no possible way anyone could've survived.

Grabbing onto the gurney, Ellen and another paramedic rushed over to the scene just as a fireman pulled a young woman out of the driver's side window. The woman was soaked in blood and appeared lifeless. On the other side of the mangled car was a second gurney with a body bag lying on top of it with a body concealed inside.

"What happened?" Ellen questioned once the woman was strapped down to the gurney and Ellen had attached several monitors to her. She silently swore once the monitors started showing the vitals. _Dammit. This chick is dangerously close to flat-lining._

"The Mustang was going about ninety when it ran into the back of the semi that hadn't gotten up to speed yet." One of the police officers explained while helping the paramedics load the gurney into the back of the ambulance, "Her friend wasn't so lucky, not that I'm saying this girl is. The other girl didn't end up in one piece."

Putting together the state of the car and the officer's words, Ellen formed a disturbing mental image. Before the ambulance doors were closed, the scarlet-colored woman climbed into the back, already pulling out supplies she'd need to keep the woman alive. _Good thing Seamus isn't here to see this. He'd be out cold from all of this blood. _The memory of her husband fainting from the sight of a needle being pushed through his skin after he took a knife to the chest at the Gettysburg reenactment made her shake her head. _Pussy._

An alarm going off brought her back to reality. The woman's blood pressure had dropped. Ellen immediately set about doing whatever she could to bring it back up to normal levels, injecting different types of medicine through an IV the other paramedic had started in the top of the woman's foot seeing as how he couldn't find a vein in her arms. Moments later the alarm silenced, indicating the blood pressure had climbed out of the danger zone. If they could just get her back to Paris Regional fast enough she would at least have a chance of surviving.

After what seemed like hours the ambulance pulled into the ER bay, and the paramedics rushed the gurney through the sliding glass doors with a police officer pushing the gurney with the corpse of the woman's passenger right behind them after taking it from a second ambulance. As they rounded a corner on the way to a room another alarm went off, and Ellen noted it to be the one monitoring the heartbeat; it was nearly flat-lining. Without saying a word, the scarlet woman jumped on top of the gurney as it was still moving and began CPR. Over and over she went through the routine she knew all too well, trying to revive the woman. At long last they arrived in the room with Ellen still doing the compressions while keeping her eye on the monitor. No change. By then, the doctor had arrived, along with someone to insert and ET tube into the airway. They were almost ready to intubate when a long, silent beep rang throughout the room.

"Give me those damn paddles!" Ellen shouted and made sure no part of her body was touching the patient once she had placed the shock paddles on the patient's chest and side. "Everyone stay clear!"

A powerful current of electricity made the patient's body jolt violently upward, but the alarm continued to sound with no change in the vitals. Ellen touched the paddles to her once more. The line remained flat across the screen, forcing Ellen to return to the compressions since the shocks didn't do any good to jumpstart the heart. The rest of the medical team did whatever they could to bring the woman back, only to be haunted by the sound of the alarm. For over thirty minutes they fought the battle until Ellen threw the paddles against the closest wall out of defeat. They could do no more.

"Alright, someone call it." Ellen got down from the gurney in preparation to leave the Emergency Room. The fact that she couldn't save the woman grated on her; she never wanted to lose a patient.

The doctor looked up at the clock on the stark white wall to the right of the gurney and said, "Time of death: fourteen thirty-seven."

On her way out of the door, Ellen passed by a radiology tech, who had shown up to take the bodies of the victims to another part of the hospital for x-rays to determine the cause of death. She stopped Ellen and asked, "Where is the body I'm taking?"

"_Bodies._" Ellen nodded her head in the direction of the two patients, "Obviously the one behind me, and the other one is under that sheet."

The tech went over to inspect the body covered by the sheet, and when she lifted it her eyes grew to the size of dinner plates upon realizing the body wasn't intact. That, or how much blood was dripping down the sheet onto the tile floor. "Are you freaking kidding me?!"

"Nope."

"They want me to x-ray _this _to find out how they died? Are they that stupid?!" The tech dropped the sheet back over the decapitated corpse and continued her rant, only to be cut off by Ellen midsentence, "It's kind of obvious how-."

"I-I don't care. I'm just the paramedic, not the one giving the orders." She remained silent as she made her way through the ER, her mind in a daze. How could she have let that patient die? Glancing down to the floor she noticed a blue cell phone lying face up with the screen turned on. Ellen bent down to pick it up and that was when she saw what mostly likely ended up being the instigator of the wreck. On the screen she read through the text conversation between the woman she had worked so hard to save and the other person who was quite possibly her boyfriend. Anger flooded Ellen's mind as she read through the conversation until her eyes fell on the last message sent from the guy, words that made Ellen's blood boil: _no man would ever want to be with a_ _backstabbin_g _whore like you._

Not wanting to see the hurtful messages any longer, Ellen slammed the phone down on the counter of the front desk right in front of a police officer. "You might need this piece of trash for evidence…" On her way through the double doors she called back over her shoulder to clarify what she had meant, "I'm referring to the bastard in the text… That piece of trash!" _I think I'll take the rest of the day off._

Somehow as she was leaving, she had managed to convince her best friend, Faye –a nurse in the NICU– to take off as well since there weren't any babies in the intensive care nursery that needed her care. Together, the two women clocked out and made their way to Ellen's pearl white Nissan Titan parked in the front parking lot. Both of them wanted to get back to their men for some much needed cuddle time. That was how a Dawson preferred to unwind from a stressful day. Without glancing back at the hospital, Ellen pulled away onto the highway in the direction of Jefferson, Texas.


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

_September_

"I just don't see why I have to leave, too."

Gabriel followed his wife around the house just like a little puppy dog in an effort to get her to change her mind about making him leave the house along with his father, Rob. Letting him stay was out of the question, especially when Kate had spent all week planning and getting ready for her Girl's Night with the rest of the Dawson women and Ava, girlfriend to Gabriel's best friend. Ever since they had returned home from their eventful trip to Gettysburg in July she had wanted a night where all of the women could have a night of fun without their spouses around to screw anything up, and knowing her husband and Sean, that was bound to happen. Just once Kate wanted a night without a man in sight, a night where she could let her hair down and be crazy for once. In fact, she wanted to get a bit tipsy.

"Look, you and your father are going to go out and have a great time with the other men." Kate placed a bowl of Chex Mix on the table she had set up underneath one of the windows in the living room and straightened the paper plates, "As for Shannon, she will be under the watchful eye of Beth at her home, along with Tate. So, you have nothing to worry about."

He was about to continue questioning her when Casey, his cousin, was chased out of the kitchen by Faye, his wife. The lilac woman wielded a broom and pointed the stick end at his head, a wild look in her eyes. The red mark on his forehead was indication that Faye had whacked him with the broom once already. Casey stood slightly behind the vine green male as if Gabriel could protect him from further beatings. The shorter of the two men had his mouth crammed full with one of the desserts Faye had been working on in the kitchen, which was probably the reason his wife had chased him from the kitchen in the first place.

Faye took a roll of gray duct tape and put a giant 'X' across the kitchen's doorway. "No one with a penis attached to them is allowed to cross this threshold. Consider this a fair warning."

Casey stuck his tongue out at her, "And what if I do? You gonna broom me to death?"

"Oh, no… I wouldn't do that." A wicked grin appeared on her features, "I'll have Ellen deal with you."

A look of fear crossed Casey's face at the thought of what his most hated family member would do to him. It never failed, he always ended up with a concussion or some other injury whenever Ellen had her way with him, "Okay, I'll stay out."

"The same goes for you, too, Gabriel."

"The other male threw his hands up in surrender and slowly backed away from Faye, keeping his eye on the broom leaning against the wall near her, "You don't have to tell me twice."

Kate was about to go back into the kitchen to finish getting the food ready for the night, but a knock on the front door made her change her mind. A smile spread across her face at the sight of her husband's brother standing on the front porch after she opened the front door. Dangling from his right hand was a zebra print purse; it was definitely not his color and looked out of place next to the muscular and well-toned man in front of her.

"You better take care of my hubby, Seamus. Don't let him do anything stupid." The longer he stood there holding the purse she began to wonder what had happened to his wife, "Where's Ellen?"

All of a sudden Ellen's head sporting fiery red, thick curls popped out from behind the dark green male, a wide grin spreading from ear to ear, "I've got the booze!" She produced a large bottle of Absolut vodka and a pack of screwdriver-flavored Smirnoff before pushing past Seamus on her way into the house.

"And I've got her purse." Seamus held the purse up beside his head and batted his eyes at Kate, "Does it match my eyes?"

Kate could only giggle at her brother-in-law. She allowed him to walk by into the house after the scarlet woman, who had found a place to put the alcohol amongst the many snacks on the living room table. By the way Ellen flitted about around the goodies she looked every bit ready for a fun night, unlike her usual hostile self. Kate looked her up and down, inspecting her wardrobe choice for the night. Not much color except for black, black, and more black with the occasional gold accents thrown in. She wore a long-sleeved black cropped top in an off the shoulder design. The shoulder straps were large link gold chains to help keep the shirt on her body. As for her pants, they had a little more variety in color, but not much; black and gray camouflage cargos over the tops of her combat boots, which were also black. The only other gold accents save for the chains on her shirt were the large gold hoop earrings visible since Ellen had her thick hair pulled up into a high ponytail.

_Hasn't the girl ever heard of color? _Kate thought and leaned over to whisper in Seamus's ear, "Does she have any other color in her closet besides black? Introduce her to pink or purple or _anything_ but black! She looks like she's an undertaker."

"I'm leaving that one alone, Kate." Seamus dropped Ellen's purse onto the couch before making his way toward the kitchen, paying no mind to the duct tape across the doorway. He didn't get any more than one foot across when he took the working end of the broom to the face, "What the hell?!"

"I SAID STAY OUT! YOU DIDN'T LISTEN!" Faye continued swiping at Seamus, who had to duck out of the way to keep from getting hit again.

"But I just want a beer."

"Do you have a penis… a wiener… a schlong… a dick? Hmm?" She sighed heavily at the confused expression she received in return to her questioning, "If you possess any of those, stay out!"

"Beer?"

"STAY OUT!" Faye shrieked loudly, her voice nearly cracking.

The oldest of the three men walked away from the kitchen, occasionally glancing back to make sure Faye wasn't on his tail. He went to stand beside his brother and cousin just as Rob and Riley, Rob's brother, trotted past them from outside on their way to the kitchen for a drink. Neither of them knew about the hidden danger that lay beyond the doorway. They found out soon enough, because the second they approached the 'X' Faye burst through it brandishing one of the chairs from around the dinner table. She chased them through the living room and out of the front door, jabbing the legs of the chair at them while the others watched helplessly from the front door. Just before Faye hit them with the chair, she dropped it in front of them, narrowing her eyes.

"Now would be a good time for all of you hooligans to skedaddle before I go all kung fu on you."

All of the Dawson men gathered close to the trucks in preparation to head out; fine by them if it meant not getting beaten to death by Faye and her arsenal of kitchen supplies. By then they just wanted to leave the farm and let the women have their fun. That was until Sean arrived with Ava several minutes later. The strawberry blonde woman carried a tray of what appeared to be chocolate covered fruit while Sean made a beeline right for the house.

Gabriel shook his head at his best friend; it had become Sean's new ritual to invade their bathroom whenever he arrived at their house. "Pee time?"

"Yup!" Sean said on his way through the front door.

Casey called after the man to warn him of the danger if he strayed from his path, "_Whatever_ you do, stay out of the…Oh, too late…" He cringed as he watched his wife plow after the unsuspecting man and take him down to the ground by the ankles just inside the door. _What has gotten into her?_

No longer interested in occupying the bathroom, Sean returned to the group outside, clearly afraid to go anywhere near the house or Casey's wife, for that matter. He quickly kissed Ava on the cheek, gaining a giggle from her in response to the sweet gesture. He was ready to get on the road with the other men to enjoy a woman-free night. It would be the first time in a long time they would be able to go to a bar and drink to their hearts' content without the women nagging them. He was the first one into Gabriel's green Dodge Ram truck and laid on the horn to tell the others they needed to hurry.

"I can hear the Shiner Bock calling my name! Would you losers hurry it up?!" Sean hollered out the passenger window.

Gabriel hugged Kate tightly while savoring her sweet fragrance of lavender mixed with citrus. He knew he had nothing to worry about knowing she wouldn't do anything crazy. "We'll be back late tonight. Don't wait up on us."

"Are you kidding me? We're still going to be partying hard by then." Kate pressed her full lips to his before pushing him along toward his truck. She could also see Faye and Ellen say their goodbyes to Casey and Seamus, respectively; Ellen acted a little frisky by slapping her hand against her husband's backside as he walked away on his way to his brother's truck. He seemed to pay no mind to her strange behavior.

All six women watched the green truck disappear down the driveway a few minutes later. When they could no longer see it they started for the house, Ellen taking the lead at a jog and leaving the others hurrying after her. She immediately went over to one of her duffle bags on the ground beside the couch and pulled out several small jars containing different colored powders along with bottles of liquid.

"Okay, ladies… All of you go scrub your nails with acetone." Ellen clapped her hands excitedly and jumped up and down with a huge grin on her face, "It's manicure time!"

On their way to the bathroom, Moira, Casey's mother, tossed her light blue wavy hair over her shoulder and leaned over close to Faye and asked, "So why were you so intent on keeping the guys out of the kitchen?"

"I didn't want them seeing the Jello shots I put in the fridge to chill. They'd never leave if they discovered them." Faye laughed.

"Good point, honey bee."

By the time the women returned to the living room, Ellen had set up all of her nail supplies on the coffee table, including the powders and chemicals to create solar nails. She even had a variety of polishes set out to create designs on the finished nails. The area around the couch had been turned into a salon with Ellen being the technician. There was even a pedicure tub set up with rose scented water bubbling inside it waiting for the first 'customer'. The Dawson women squealed in excitement at the prospect of being pampered.

Kate pulled Ava and Mae up on either side of her, "Ladies… Let the fun begin!"

Mae took off in the direction of the kitchen at a jog, "I'll get the chips and queso!"

* * *

The time neared eight o' clock and all of the women were enjoying the night to the fullest. After receiving fresh manicures and pedicures, they had gathered in front of the TV to watch a classic chick flick, _The Notebook_, while shoveling down the Chex Mix and other snacks. They had boxes of Kleenex close by, for the tears started falling around the living room a good way into the movie. Even Ellen shed a few tears despite her usual hardcore nature. Some of the women were sitting on the floor and the rest draped across the couch haphazardly like a bunch of dolls that had been thrown down by a child no longer interested in playing with them. As much fun as they were having –bonding and whatnot– there was just something missing to make it the best night they'd had in a long time.

During the scene where the main characters were kissing in the middle of the rain, a loud belch disturbed the air, causing the women to turn and look at Ellen, who was lying upside down on the loveseat with her feet over the back of it. Ellen's eyes darted back and forth to see her family and Ava gawking at her awkwardly, and then she said, "Just because I have lady bits doesn't mean I can't let it out like a man. If given the opportunity I can chug a beer, let me tell ya."

Ava chose that moment to stand and stretch, yawning in the process. "Okay ladies, if we're done with this twelve-year-old sleepover crap, let's get out of here and go do something fun… something spontaneous."

"Club time!" Faye and Ellen shouted together, Ellen already climbing down from the loveseat and running for the bathroom with her best friend to change their wardrobes.

Taking Faye and Ellen's lead, Kate, Mae, Ava, and Moira made their way to the bedrooms where they helped each other pick out suitable outfits for the venue they were about to head to, none of them besides Faye and Ellen knowing where that may be. While Ava was helping Kate pin her hair up in a sassy style on the top of the blonde woman's head, Mae stepped sheepishly into the bedroom to find the younger women staring in shock; she wasn't sure whether it was from the fact that she was wearing strappy stiletto heels or the skin-tight emerald green strapless dress that only reached halfway down her thighs. The longer they stood there in complete silence, the more Mae began to worry.

"Is this a little too much for someone my age?" The older woman smiled faintly and actually blushed a little in response to the stares, "Moira said this getup would make me look younger and show off my curves for the hot fellas." She giggled along with the others at her comment.

"Look at that bombshell!"

All heads turned toward the doorway connecting Kate and Gabriel's bedroom to the bathroom. Leaning against the doorframe dressed in black leather pants and a black bustier decorated in large clear rhinestones was Ellen. A flash caught the women's eyes and they noticed silver chains hanging from the front belt loops of her pants to the back loops. She had let her hair down into a half up do, the front sections pulled back with a black rhinestone claw clip. More sparkle peeked out from underneath her hair: dime-sized cubic zirconium studs. To top off her own dangerous look, Ellen had switched her shoes to flat knee-high boots.

"Speak for yourself, Ellen!" Kate gasped as she slipped on a dark wash jean jacket over her sapphire blue sequined spaghetti strap shirt to go with her matching jeans. Her hair ended up being put into a messy bun.

The scarlet woman strutted past Kate on her way over to the vanity mirror above the dresser to touch up her makeup. "I have to look fabulous when I go clubbing."

As for Faye's choice of clothes, the lilac woman had changed into a silver mini skirt and a sunny yellow halter top. Her long, wavy hair had been pulled to the side in a sleek braid with fake colorful butterflies placed randomly about it. Her shoes were rather unique in that they were brown gladiators that wrapped halfway up her calves. The most striking feature was her long, glittery eyelashes. Katy Perry meets Grecian goddess they would describe her style.

With the Dawson women and Ava ready to go, each of them gathered up a little money, some of them shoving the bills into their cleavages for safe keeping. Not a hint of Kate's cash could be seen between her ample breasts. In fact, she could have probably concealed an entire wallet in her cleavage. She looked up in time to see Mae step out of the kitchen jingling the keys to Rob's silver truck before tossing them over to Ellen.

"Rob won't mind if we take his truck out for a joy ride." The dark purple woman turned toward Ellen with a sly grin on her face, "Ellen, why don't you get behind the wheel since you know where you're going."

Eager for some excitement, Ellen ran for the truck after snatching up her black leather jacket from the couch. The rest of the women followed after her and piled into the cab just as Ellen fired up the engine. They cranked up the radio as they turned onto the main road out of town, filling the truck with a heart-pounding bass. Even Mae was jamming along with the music. Onward the truck flew down the highway toward Ellen and Faye's former hometown of Paris, Texas.

Somewhere halfway between Jefferson and Paris, Moira wrapped her arms around Mae and Ava, "Ladies, this shall be a night we shall not forget. Let me hear your war cries!"

Loud choruses of yells echoed around the truck and out of the windows making the men in the truck beside them cock their heads and laugh at the sight of the women. Moira was right; they would never forget their night of being spontaneous.


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Pop music drummed in their ears the moment the women stepped through the double doors of the night club on the south side of Paris. After watching Ellen nearly take out a light pole with the front of Rob's truck while trying to pull into the last parking space on the back side of the club, they were ready to get started with the fun. The building was filled to capacity with people dancing and occupying the bar area. Some of the men at the bar stood watching the women show off their moves on the dance floor mere feet away from them. Kate, Ava, and Faye were eager to go dance, especially since Kate hadn't danced since she was pregnant with Shannon. The three of them were about to push their way through the hoards of people when Ellen snagged them and drug them over to the long bar counter top along with Mae and Moira. All of them took a seat in order to be served.

"Hey, Benji!" Ellen called and waved down the bartender stacking a variety of different glasses behind the counter top, "Whaddup my homie? Can't a girl get a little liquor around here?"

A large grin crossed the bartender's face as he turned around and saw Ellen waiting on him with a raised eyebrow. The women took note of his piercing green eyes and his subtly sexy mussed up hair. His very presence was enough to make them feel comfortable about being in such a crowded area. "Let me guess, Ellen… Jack and Coke?"

Ellen chuckled, "But of course! Start my girls out with some mojitos to get them warmed up."

Without saying a word, Benji walked away to get started on the drinks, leaving the women to soak in the scene around them; everywhere around them people were dancing and having a blast. From the look of things, Ellen and Faye had the right idea to take them to the club.

* * *

Gabriel and the rest of the men were driving through the busy streets of Paris after spending some time at a sports bar where they hadn't done anything but throw back a bottle of beer and listen to the football game playing on the TV. Sure, they had enjoyed the beer like any normal man their age would, but a woman-free night was proving to be difficult. While keeping his eyes on the road, Gabriel tuned out the argument between Casey and Seamus that dealt with the aspect of the female gender that each man found attractive; Casey insisted the chest area of the woman was the most appealing whereas Seamus tried to explain that the personality was what he fancied. The oldest of the two was instantly disregarded by Casey, who pointed out for what seemed like the twentieth time how Ellen had bashed his head into a pot of flowers soon after meeting Seamus's wife and his own. There was no end in sight for the dispute.

_Will he ever let that go? _Gabriel was pulled from his thoughts when he noticed a bunch of vehicles parked around a brightly lit club of some kind. "Hey guys, how about we pop in there for a bit to see what's going on?" He pointed toward the club before turning onto a back alley to find a place to park.

The men piled out of the truck like a bunch of football players breaking for the next play as soon as Gabriel cut the engine, and made their way for the entrance of the club in high hopes of having a good time even if it meant not being able to touch or make contact with any woman inside. Little did any of them know they would be in for one hell of a surprise.

* * *

With her second drink of the night in her hand, Ellen leaned with her front against the bar while watching Faye and Kate try to convince Mae to throw back the shot of amber-colored bourbon Benji had placed in front of her moments before. So far, Mae hadn't warmed up to the idea. That was until Ellen stepped over with another shot of the same bourbon in preparation to make a deal with the older woman. After wrapping Mae's fingers around the small glass, both she and Ellen threw back the liquor at the same time, slamming the glasses down on the counter top when done.

"Whoo! I feel like such a bad girl!" Mae laughed along with the others.

Ava chose that time to drag Faye and Moira out to the dance floor while the other three stayed behind at the bar to chat with Benji. None of them were aware that danger lurked only feet away in the form of a man with dark shoulder-length hair pulled back into a low ponytail. He kept his eyes fixed on Ellen, who had her back turned toward him. Slowly, step by step, the creeper neared her, intent on more than just talking with her.

After Benji had stepped away to wait on some other customers, Ellen polished off her drink and checked her Facebook newsfeed on her phone. For some reason she felt a little uncomfortable with her surroundings. She whirled around to find a man standing behind her, too close for her liking.

The man finally spoke after a few silent seconds, "Hey baby, what's that perfume you're wearing? It makes you smell hot and dangerous." He unbuttoned the top few buttons of his shirt to show Ellen the smooth, defined chest hidden underneath; all the while looking at her with lust in his eyes, "And makes my manhood quiver."

_Oh, I'm dangerous, alright. _Ellen carefully slipped her fingers into her back pocket where she had a pocket knife hidden in case of an emergency. Within seconds she would be able to cause some damage if need be, "It's called 'Back the Hell Off Before I Shank Your Ass'."

"Ooh, a feisty one. Just how I like my women."

Seeing that Ellen was being pinned to the counter with nowhere to run, Kate picked up her empty cocktail glass on her way over to the two. There was no way in Hell she was going to let any man hurt Ellen, not while she was breathing. "In case her warning wasn't clear enough, let me reiterate for you." In one quick motion, Kate slammed her glass over the top of the creeper's head, dropping him to the ground in a shower of glass fragments.

The sound of glass contacting skull made everyone in close proximity turn to see what the commotion was about, including Faye and Ava. The two women rushed over to the bar, picking their way around the unconscious man on the ground to check on Ellen and Kate. They could tell by Ellen's posture that the scarlet woman was more angry rather than shaken up, but they insisted on taking her to the restroom to calm down. On their way from the main room, Ellen turned to yell instructions to the bartender.

"Benji, you have some trash you need to take out," she nodded her head in the direction of the man bleeding on the ground, and then disappeared down the hallway with the rest of the women.

* * *

The Dawson men and Sean stared in stunned silence as a man with a messy hairstyle drug an unconscious man past them through the front door of the club. Before they disappeared around the corner of the building all of them noticed blood covering the side of the man's face. None of them had a clue their spouses were responsible for the man's demise.

"Looks like a fun place!" Casey joked to make light of what they had just witnessed.

Ignoring their comrade, the men pushed their way through the entrance and started searching for an empty table to occupy, but without any luck. After some time, they managed to find a small corner across from the bar where they could observe the scene while enjoying drinks. Little did any of them know they were about to question who they married when they noticed Kate, Faye, and Ellen emerge from a dark hallway and find seats at the bar.

"What are they doing here?!" Gabriel kept his eyes glued on Kate who threw back a shot of what appeared to be whisky. _Her lips have touched whisky? I must be dreaming._

Thinking nothing of it, Seamus and Casey forced Gabriel to enjoy himself and not worry about what the women were doing. It was the perfect time for them to watch the single women dance without getting into trouble for it; Casey was just a little disappointed, however, that none of them were using the skinny pillars around the club for pole dancing.

Across the room, Faye was trying her best to convince Ellen to show off her mad dance skills, only to have the scarlet woman dismiss her. That was a part of her past life that she wasn't too keen about reliving; the time she called her Young and Stupid Years. For what seemed like five minutes or longer Ellen listened to the women badger her until she finally had to step away from the group to clear her mind. She didn't make it far before Faye ran after her.

"Ellen, get back there and dance your heart out like you used to do." Faye grabbed onto her friend's arm, spinning her around to face her fierce hazel eyes.

The other woman stood rooted to her spot, silently contemplating her options. She knew Faye would never let her live it down if she didn't dance, and eventually gave in. She strode back over to the bar, where she threw herself onto the counter and directed orders toward an unsuspecting Benji. Once the bartender realized what his friend had planned, he swiped his arm across the counter to clear it of any empty glasses, sending the cocktail glasses crashing to the floor with the sound of glass breaking to follow. He shrugged his shoulders as if to say 'oh well'.

"Make room. The real queen is back in her domain!" Benji stepped over to the DJ booth and put on a popular song by Rihanna.

Ellen listened to the beat in an effort to get herself in the mood. Sure, she moved her hips a little, but the song wasn't suiting her.

"No, no, no! Mama knows you can do better than that!"

Within seconds a new beat thumped in Ellen's ears, bringing a huge grin to her face as she began to move in time to the song, crouching down low so that she was hovering only inches from the counter top. Her movements mimicked the changes in the beat perfectly, which caused the people around the bar to switch their attention over to her. After some time Ellen completely lost herself in the song and made her movements somewhat provocative; her bottom bounced and hit every beat, sometimes slowing or picking up speed depending on when the beat changed. It was the style of dance she knew all too well... the style she had gained fame for whenever she would go clubbing with her friends: twerking.

Throughout the song the din in the night club grew, drawing the Dawson men's attention over to the bar area. They couldn't see much, just Ellen on top of the counter dancing, but they were about to witness something quite unexpected from their family member. Not thinking much of Ellen's strange behavior, the men went back to throwing back their beers; Seamus knew Ellen didn't get out much what with her busy schedule at the hospital and needed to have fun with her friends for once to help her unwind. As his dark aqua eyes flicked back up to the bar he started to choke on his mouthful of beer in shock at seeing his wife bent over on the countertop like a submissive feline, bouncing and displaying her backside in a provocative manner for all of the men to see. Seamus's sudden choking fit made the others look over to the bar when he managed to point in Ellen's direction.

"Sweet mother of Jefferson Davis!" Gabriel's eyes grew rapidly to the size of saucers, "Where did the girl learn to do that?!"

Rob sighed heavily from where he sat across from Riley, "She always seemed so innocent."

"Innocent, hell! I like naughty Ellen!" Casey exclaimed a little too enthusiastically as he kept his eyes fixed on the scarlet woman twerking across the way.

Seamus, on the other hand, wasn't thrilled by his cousin's sudden admiration for his wife, "Casey… do us all a favor and pick your dignity up off the ground."

For the rest of the performance the men forced themselves to watch, amazed that a woman such as Ellen could behave so promiscuously. They were surprised that someone who had a previously known hatred toward men would want to entice them to take advantage of her. However, they also knew Seamus would never allow that to happen so long as he had breath in his body. As the crowd of people around them applauded at the end of Ellen's risqué dance, the Dawson men threw back more of the contents from their bottles, except Seamus, who chased the rest of his bottle down with a shot of whisky.

"I think we need to go to Confession after watching that," Seamus muttered while watching Ellen order another round of drinks for the ladies.

His younger brother shot him a confused expression, "Isn't that for Catholics?"

Silence passed between the two men until Seamus grabbed his brother by the shoulders and shook him senseless.

"You are Irish… and Irish Catholic!"

Casey chuckled from his seat before chiming in, "Sounds like something stupid I'd say."

"You stay out of this, numb nuts." All the while Seamus tried his hardest to get the image of his wife 'dancing' out of his mind without success. He hated seeing all of those men fall all over themselves just to get a quick glimpse of her. If she was capable of drawing in so much attention, then he wanted to prove he could to… he just didn't know how. And then it hit him! A nasty shit-eating grin spread from ear to ear, making his male family members worry about what he had on his mind.

"Seamus… what's that look for?" Rob spoke up, "I don't like it."

Getting up from his spot at the table, Seamus gulped down the rest of Casey's beer, ignoring the younger man's protests, "You guys know how to strip and dance, right? Good… follow me!"

As the others started after the dark green male, Gabriel stayed rooted where he stood, trying to fathom what his brother had just suggested, "Wait… strip? What? Who? Oh, hell."

If Gabriel's reaction wasn't bad enough, Casey appeared as if he needed to be shocked back to life from how pale he had turned, "What, are we auditioning for the Chippendales now?!"

"I want to know how he's planning on making boxers sexy," Riley put in as he walked at the back of the group. Like his son, he didn't quite know what to expect, but he'd find out soon enough.


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

One would think they were at a funeral by how silent the men's restroom was as Gabriel, Casey, Sean, Riley, and Rob stood utterly baffled at Seamus standing only feet in front of them clad in nothing but a black leather g-string with a gold zipper running up the front of the miniscule material. They couldn't decide whether or not the zipper served a purpose or not, but whatever the case, they were more concerned by the fact that their family member was wearing a g-string as if it was something he did every day. The time in the restroom became even more embarrassing whenever someone walked in and gave the group awkward stares. Things couldn't have gotten any more embarrassing… or so they thought.

Rob pinched the bridge of his nose, squeezing his eyes shut so as not to see his son's choice of undergarments, "Please tell me my son is not wearing a leather thong."

"Well, forget what I said about boxers." Casey flinched when Seamus threw him a silver-colored g-string. The light green male turned the strip of material over and over, inspecting it closely, "Um, I hate to tell you this, Shay, but _me_ big boy ain't gonna fit in this."

Gabriel chuckled at his cousin's comment until he was hit in the head by another g-string– a gold one, "Oh, hell no!" He turned his gaze over to his cousin, who was still mystified by the g-string he was given, "As for you not fitting into that thing, you're not as big as you might think you are."

"Well, there's a self-esteem crusher," Rob muttered under his breath.

To keep any more men from entering the restroom while the Dawson's were learning what they would be doing, Seamus shoved a bench in front of the door after taping an 'out of order' sign to the outside. When he turned back around most of them had already changed into their g-strings; they stared at each other in shock, Gabriel being the one to blush violently as he did whatever he could to cover himself for some semblance of decency. That was until Casey, being the trouble maker that he was, decided to pop loose the clips from the sides of Gabriel's break-away g-string, causing it to fall off.

Gabriel immediately brought his hands down to cover his nether region, "Casey!"

"Come on, Gabe. Be wild and freeeee!" He, too, unsnapped his own g-string and ran around the room cackling like a hyena.

Riley just shook his head in exasperation at his son's antics, "He didn't get that from me."

A loud, piercing whistle stopped everyone in their tracks, bringing their attention to Seamus standing near the wall with his arms folded over his chest in annoyance.

"If we're done, children, let's get busy practicing." Seamus said with a raised eyebrow and then remembered one very important note, "Casey, there's only one rule I want you to follow: do not, I repeat, DO NOT liplock with any of those women that will be screaming for you… Not unless you want Hepatitis or some other disease that will make your dick shrivel up and fall off."

* * *

Ellen stared down into her half full glass of a fruity cocktail, trying to deduce whether or not if there was something floating around in the liquid, or if it was the alcohol already taking a hold of her vision. Laughter around her brought her attention up to see the other women in her group laughing at Mae trying her hand at tying a cherry stem into a knot with her tongue and having a rather difficult time of it. Ellen, too, smiled at the older woman, glad all of them were having a good time. Their laughter soon turned into giggly squeals when the overhead lighting suddenly turned down and brightly colored laser lights danced around the club to the opening beats of Def Leppard's 'Pour Some Sugar On Me'. They weren't sure exactly what was happening, but the sound of the other women's excited screams meant it had to be something good.

Ava and Faye pulled Kate along with them through the swarms of people gathering near the stage to get a better look. Faye and Kate nearly plowed into the back of Ava, who had stopped without warning when she saw the reason for the hordes of women to go crazy. Standing front and center on the stage bearing their torsos for all to see was none other than their significant others. Their perfect smiles sparkled like diamonds in the strobing neon lights, only adding to their beautifully sculpted bodies. On closer inspection the three ladies noticed how the men's skin glistened with every step they took around the stage; they hadn't been moving very much to create sweat, so it must have been oil they had slathered on their bodies. Whatever it was, the ladies were falling in love with them all over again.

As the song neared the chorus they watched as the men gathered together for something big, something they weren't quite prepared for.

"What do you suppose-?" Faye questioned as she clapped along with the rest of the crowd.

"I don't know, but I have a feeling I'm going to get all hot and bothered by the end of this," Kate yelled above the music and screaming. She kept her pale blue eyes fixed on Gabriel teasing the women in the club by beginning to unzip his ripped jeans, but stopping only halfway. _Where's Seamus? _Kate realized that Gabriel's older brother was missing from the group performing on the stage.

"What in Hell's name?!"

The women whirled around at the sound of the familiar feminine voice to see Ellen and the two older women standing behind them with looks of amazement on their features. It was obvious they were not expecting to see their men behaving in such a manner; however, it was by no means a look of anger.

"We might as well enjoy this, ladies." Kate took a sip from her drink, smiling with her eyes, "I kind of get a high from seeing all of these girls fawning over our hubbies."

Faye gave her a small slap on the shoulder, "You said it, sister. We've got the sexiest men alive and no one else can put their grubby hands on them."

The group of women looked up in time to see all of the men shove the waistband of their jeans down just enough to reveal the g-strings situated just below the prominences of their hipbones that had been hidden beneath the blue material. It was enough to cause a roar of applause to erupt around the club. Even the Dawson women were screaming like a bunch of teenagers at the sight of Gabriel and the others flaunting what God blessed them with. A new wave of applause broke out the moment all of the men dropped down to the stage to start doing a well-choreographed set of body rolls and air humps, mimicking the act of what they would do with their wives in bed. Every fluid movement sent shockwaves throughout the women's bodies. Casey really put himself in the moment, tossing his long hair around as if he were a model for a shampoo commercial while sending out seductive grins and winks.

Watching the men run their hands over their inner thighs or other private areas was enough to make Kate clench her thighs together to hide the fact that she was aroused by seeing her husband displaying himself in such an erotic manner that only she had seen before. She didn't want to admit that she wanted desperately to jump on the stage and have Gabriel take her right there in front of everyone.

"Is it getting hot in here or is it just me?" Kate fanned herself with her hand, sweat starting to glisten on her forehead from her aroused state.

Moira nodded in agreement with the younger woman, misunderstanding what Kate had been insinuating, "It is a bit warm."

All too soon the performance ended with the men left in nothing but their g-strings, facing away from the crowd to display their perfectly muscled backsides, which seemed even rounder with the way the light hit them. It was no surprise that their women were waiting on them eagerly at the edge of the stage when the last notes of the song faded away. From the bright smiles on their faces it was clear they had enjoyed the show, even if the men had never danced like that in their lives in what they considered an amateur performance. Casey was the first one off the stage after he had yanked his jeans back up and swooped Faye into his arms where she happily planted a kiss on his waiting lips. The rest of the men took their turn greeting their wives or girlfriends as the crowd dispersed back to different areas of the club, satisfied by the impromptu strip show.

Shortly after the group had gone back to sit at one of the tables Gabriel noticed that Ellen was unusually quiet, kind of sitting off by herself instead of joining in on the conversation about how great the men looked in their final 'outfits'. After fastening the button on his jeans, he sat in the empty chair beside Ellen and touched her on the arm to get her attention. She gave him a faint smile upon realizing that it was only Gabriel and not another creeper stalking her.

"What's wrong, pretty girl? You look so heartbroken," he said with concern filling his voice.

_Should I tell him? He'll just think I'm jealous._ Ellen toyed with her emotions for a bit, not wanting to let on that she was disappointed in not seeing her own husband up on the stage. But if anyone would listen to her without judging it was Gabriel. She spoke in a whisper so as not to let the others hear, "I had really hoped Shay would be with you guys. I guess he's too shy for something like that."

A small laugh escaped Gabriel's lips at her concern, "Oh, fear not, love. Seamus isn't as shy as you might think." _Trust me on that one._

The scarlet-colored woman gave him a perturbed expression; Seamus was not one for strutting about putting his body on display. Still, there was something about Gabriel's wry grin that made her wonder.

The catchy techno music that had been playing throughout the building soon diminished into a slower, more sensual song; possibly even erotic to some. At first, everyone thought it was just a random selection the deejay was spinning at the moment, but they were sadly mistaken. From behind the deejay booth strode Seamus bearing a mischievous smirk on his chiseled face. If the other men's appearance hadn't already caused a bunch of orgasm-induced heart attacks, Seamus's was sure to put them into a coma, a coma of pure ecstasy. Like the rest of his family members, Seamus was topless, the muscles of his chest carved so perfectly and twitching ever so slightly with each little movement. The light wash jeans he wore hung low below his hipbones, which only made him even more irresistible to all of the ladies who laid eyes on him. It was the way his long locks of hair draped over his shoulders to rest on his pectorals that would remind one of a god– silky and lustrous. Seamus oozed sexiness. He made slow, purposeful strides toward the waiting crowd; occasionally flashing bright white teeth to the women he passed on his way to the area of the building Ellen occupied.

And there she sat, secluded from the rest of the family, except for Gabriel. The two appeared to be discussing something. That was when Ellen's face scrunched up: confusion. It had to be good whatever Gabriel had told her given the fact that he had a smile creep all the way across his face. Ellen's dark cobalt eyes lit up when she caught sight of her husband standing nearby clinging to one of the pillars, rolling his hips against it in a provocative manner to get her attention. It was obvious that his devious plan worked, because Ellen's normal scarlet complexion only deepened with her blushing. To add to the torture, he ran his fingers through his hair, letting each strand fall through ever so seductively. He could tell by the way she dug her nails into the underside of her chair that she was trying her damndest to keep herself from launching off the chair after him.

_Sweet mother of Jefferson Davis– Dammit, now I'm starting to sound just like the rest of the family, _Ellen quickly shut her mouth when she realized it had been hanging open. "Seamus?!" She squeaked.

He flashed her a brilliant smile while at the same time going into his own performance. Slipping his thumbs into the waistband of his jeans, Seamus pulled the straps of his g-string up above the waistband in an effort to tease Ellen. He reveled at the sight of her eyes growing in awe; despite the façade Ellen always put on about having a thing against the male population, he knew she had desires like every woman, which showed in the way she gazed at him with midnight eyes. Out of the corner of his own eye Seamus could see a startled expression on her face as the song's lyrics finally sank in; it wasn't every day she listened to music talking about two people screwing each other senseless.

Seamus made Ellen blush violently while taking a seat on her lap facing her, one thigh on either side of her hips. He held her so that the soft skin of her neck was bared to him. Her chest rose and fell with deep, heavy breathing the closer his lips got to her. She could feel the heat radiating off of him, but just seconds away from his lips making contact he pulled away from her in a teasing fashion, leaving her miffed.

"Are you enjoying yourself, a stór?" He whispered, and then pushed some loose strands of hair out of his face.

…Those beautiful Irish words, spoken in that accent that had made Kate fall in love with Gabriel. It had grown on her, as well. A streak of friskiness coursed through her veins, bringing a sly smile to her lips. "Twenty bucks for you to take those pants off."

Considering her words, Seamus leaned forward so that his lips were nearly touching hers, "Make it a fifty and we'll talk."

A huge grin crossed her face as she produced not a fifty dollar bill, but a one hundred dollar bill, from the pocket of her cargo pants and waved it in front of his face.

"Thank you!" There was that shit-eating grin again as he plucked the bill from her perfectly manicured fingers.

Ellen watched with awe as her husband rose up from her lap before carefully unzipping his jeans, keeping his beautiful dark aqua eyes fixed on hers as he did so. He could see Ellen locked in a battle with herself; the knuckles of her hands turned white from griping onto the seat of her chair to keep from, in a sense, molesting her husband in front of the entire club. Too late… One moment she watched Seamus stripping out of his jeans, and the next she had a rather large bulge inches away from her face. Not being able to stand the temptation any longer, Ellen started to reach out toward him to yank the g-string off what she hungered for most, but he quickly placed a strong hand around her wrist, stopping her before she could get her hands on him.

He waggled a finger in front of her face and said, "I'm sorry, miss… Touching the dancers isn't allowed."

Ellen's eyes narrowed as a glare appeared at his teasing, and she took a swipe toward him, only to nearly fall out of her chair when he dodged her. _Son of a–!_

Upon turning around, the scarlet woman found Seamus perched deliciously on top of the table, his jeans removed completely to reveal the black g-string to the fullest. Oh, how she wanted him to be leaning over her splayed body, eager to take her. The other women in the club roared in excitement the moment Seamus began enticing them with some body rolls, working them from his hips all the way up through the rest of his body.

"So much for Shay being shy," Gabriel playfully punched Ellen in the shoulder and laughed at her expression.

She didn't care one bit that her husband was nearly naked in front of everyone; she wanted to see what else he had to offer.

That wish was fulfilled moments later when Seamus hauled her onto the table with him carefully pressing down on her arms as he hovered over her in an almost sixty-nine-like fashion. Her cheeks were a brilliant shade of red when he performed more body rolls over her, allowing her to kiss the insides of his muscular thighs; he was so close, and yet the part she craved was just out of reach. Oh, how she wanted him to stop torturing her and just bend her over the table…

"Damn you, Seamus!" Ellen growled her frustration, aware of the eyes on the two of them.

A naughty grin crept across Seamus's face, "Is this what you want, a mhuirnín?" He slowly reached down to the clips on either side of his hips, enjoying the hopeful look in Ellen's eyes. His fingers popped loose one side of the g-string to reveal only a peek of skin. So close! And just as his fingers found the other clip and unfastened it to give Ellen her prize, the club went pitch black… followed by a chorus of "Damn!"

e


	5. Chapter 4

**Author's Note: **Gaelic words and phrases from this chapter... A bhitseach (pronounce it like _ah vit-shokh_)

**Chapter 4**

"So, those lights going off at the last second was very inconvenient, Shay." Kate took a sip from her pink-colored cocktail and rolled her eyes in mock annoyance at Seamus, who had rejoined the group at their table after changing back into decent clothes.

He just shrugged his shoulders, replying simply, "Strippers can be so cruel sometimes."

About that time Benji trotted over with a huge grin on his face. Stopping directly in front of the men, the handsome bartender pointed at them, "You're hired!"

Looks of bewilderment passed around the group, all except for Gabriel, who turned a nice pale shade; he was quite certain Hell had frozen over in those few moments. Never did he think their little show would evoke a job opening.

"Excuse me?" He squeaked.

"I want to hire all of you men to put on performances every Friday night. I think that once word got around that we have an all male strip show it would bring in more money… and women."

Gabriel glanced around at the others to judge their reactions to the proposition; Casey and Riley were clearly considering it while Rob and Sean were a little more skeptical. Seamus appeared as if he had swallowed something bitter-tasting. _How would Kate tolerate other women wanting us?_ "I don't know–." He was nearly strangled when Kate suddenly grabbed him by the shirt collar and pressed her cheek against his, offering a toothy smile to Benji. Her appearance was almost psychotic.

"He'd love to take it!" Upon noticing the startled expression plastered on Gabriel's face she continued, "Seeing as how you don't have a job, Gabriel, you and the other guys should think very seriously about taking up Benji's offer. I hear it pays quite well… if you're good."

"There's no thinking about it, is there? You and the other ladies are going to make us do this, aren't you?"

Kate crossed her arms over her chest in amusement, "You bet your sweet ass."

"Damnú air." _Women are evil creatures. _Gabriel slumped back into his chair in need of another drink. At the rate the night was going he was going to have a massive hangover by the next morning. He never once imagined himself ripping off his clothes in front of a bunch of screaming women just to make a little extra cash, which they didn't need. _Perhaps she's doing this to satisfy a secret fantasy of hers?_ The thought was entirely possible.

The silence in their area was disturbed when Casey snapped his fingers to get everyone's attention, "All of you shall now refer to me as Your Royal Sexiness." He leaned over close to an unsuspecting Ellen, growling seductively when she noticed him, "Hey Ellen, I bet you would love to admire me Crown Jewels packed in another one of those thongs."

"Don't make me send you to the ER tonight." Not a hint of emotion crossed her face.

Benji chose that moment to speak, "Great! I'll just go get all of you some more drinks to celebrate. I'm thinking my new mixture. Got a bit of a kick to it." As he was walking away back to the bar, Seamus grabbed him by the shirt sleeve to get his attention.

"I'm gonna need you to bring me an entire bottle of the shit. It's going to be needed knowing I have to teach my testosterone-overloaded cousin the etiquette of stripping."

* * *

Gone. That was the perfect term to describe Ellen after her third glass of the Fireball whisky concoction Benji had given them after hustling all of them over to the bar. Her forehead was plastered to the bar counter top, unmoving, making it seem as if she were dead. A few of them contemplated poking her to make sure she was still breathing; however, they weren't too keen on facing the beast if she came up throwing punches. Then again, someone would have to do the dirty work eventually, so it might as well be someone they didn't care got massacred if, indeed, Ellen was still alive.

"Hey, Tweedle Dum," Seamus directed his attention toward Casey on the other side of him, running his tongue down deep in the glass he held in his hand to get every last drop of the potent drink. He was already beginning to feel the effects of it plus the numerous beers he had consumed earlier that night, "Check Ellie for a pulse so I don't end up feeling bad for not stopping her sooner. The carotid is the best place to check for it."

The younger man looked up suddenly aware of the danger Seamus was all too willing to put him in. He wobbled around a little on his bar stool until he managed to stop his head from spinning. When he spoke his words were a bit slurred from the alcohol, "Do I'z look that zztupid?!"

"Casey…"

Grumbling and cursing under his breath, Casey hesitantly jabbed the scarlet-colored woman between the shoulder blades and quickly withdrew his hand in case she decided to hit him, "Give me zzome zzign that you'z alive."

They watched as Ellen's hand slowly formed into a fist until at the last second her middle finger flipped out, accompanied by an audible "Screw you."

Casey sighed, ignoring the message that was clearly meant for him, "Well, Zzhay… your zzhe devil of a wife izzn't dead."

"No, I'm not dead you moron." Ellen fumbled around for her phone to call one of her good friends to pick them up and give them a ride back to Jefferson considering none of them were able to drive what with them being drunk or close to it. She blinked her eyes to clear her vision while stabbing around on the screen for the right number. Afterwards, she put the device up to her ear. "Tobi! What's up freak… We need a… hic… ride home from the club… hic… Yeah, I'm drunk…See ya… hic… in a bit."

Faye stared suspiciously at the dark screen on the phone before taking it away from her best friend. What she saw made her shake her head in shame, "Ellen, you idiot! You didn't even hit 'call'!"

As Faye set about calling their gay friend for real, Kate rolled her eyes at Ellen, who was giggling at her own mistake, "Phone conversation with yourself… That's a new level of hammered."

While the Dawson's and Sean waited for their ride to arrive some of them took to scrolling through their phones or just engaged in drunken conversations with each other. Gabriel was in the middle of a quite slurred debate about the best way to get women in the mood when his phone chirped, signifying a text in his inbox. As soon as he opened the message his face – despite how drunk he was – turned bright red out of embarrassment.

"Uhhh… Nice rack, Ellen, but why did you zzend _me_ that picture?" He questioned.

The woman in question looked up from where she had been throwing winks in Seamus's direction, thinking she had sent the message to him, "I… hic… didn't. I sent you… hic… the one… hic… of my cooch."

Upon hearing what his wife had said, Seamus choked on his drink, hacking and gagging in an attempt to clear his airway. He was completely baffled that Ellen would even think about sending naughty photos to anyone. _Dear God._

Everyone watched Gabriel, waiting for a reaction, but instead of him saying anything another phone beeped from Casey's location. A crooked grin crossed his face as he checked his inbox. There was a look of exultation about the man the moment he opened the picture.

"No, you didn't. 'Cauzze I got it!" Casey did a fist pump, "Hell yezzz!"

Seamus lunged for his cousin's phone, nearly falling to the floor in the process, "You're gonna delete that!"

The light green male stuck his tongue out in a mocking fashion, and then took off from the bar at a stumbling gait with Seamus chasing after him as best he could since both of them were quite inebriated. For a good five minutes the two of them circled around the club, occasionally running into someone in their path. Eventually, Seamus stuck his foot out in front of his cousin, causing Casey to trip. His phone went flying until Seamus caught it and erased the revealing photo before Casey realized what had happened.

"Dammit, Zzhay. Any other time zzhe wants to kill me." Casey pouted.

"I'm the only one that gets to enjoy her pretty little goods. Besides, I don't think you are capable of making her smile like I can."

It was a good thing Faye and Ellen's friend, Tobi showed up right then before the men got into a punching match. The skinny man sported dark spiked hair, the tips a bright purple color. He wore tight black jeans that clung to his small derriere and a black and gray striped tank top. Instead of his usual Converse sneakers he wore biker boots. Behind the gay man was a shorter man, who was dressed in a more sophisticated style complete with a button up shirt and pressed jeans. He was a little shy, staying behind Tobi at all times. A piece of hair fell into his eyes where he brushed it away. The two of them stopped in front of the Dawson's, their eyebrows raised at the sight of Seamus sitting on top of Casey's lap with the younger male reaching for his phone, which Seamus held just out of his reach.

"Get offa me before I get a boner!" It was too late by the time Casey realized his mistake.

Seamus found joy in Casey's comment, and he leaned over close to his cousin's face while grinding his hips into Casey's, "Do I turn you on that much?"

"No!"

Tobi finally spoke to announce he and his partner had arrived, "Um, are you guys ready? Jamie and I were kinda in the middle of a movie."

Allowing Casey to squirm out from underneath Seamus, the dark green male started for his wife to help her outside. He kept an arm hooked underneath her armpit just in case she fell what with her being intoxicated. All of them made their way outside, where they stuffed themselves into the small, black Chevy Cruze parked on the side of the club. Some of the women ended up sitting on top of their husband's laps, except for Moira, who sat in the floorboard along with Sean. For what seemed like ten minutes or longer the car stayed relatively quiet save for the radio playing faintly in the background. It was some kind of classical piano music, an odd selection for the type of person Tobi was known to be; the music had to be Jamie's choice. After some time Ava decided to break the awkward silence, turning around to see Seamus from where she sat in the front of the vehicle. She could no longer hold in the question that had been burning inside her for most of the evening.

"Where did you learn how to dance like that?" Her eyes sparkled with curiosity, "I never thought you to be the type to get out there in public and shake your whoo-hoo around like that."

The Cruze was filled with laughter from the woman's comment; even Seamus had tears forming at the corners of his eyes from laughing so hard. The only two remaining silent were Tobi and Jamie since they weren't at the club to witness the men's performance and didn't have a clue what the others were talking about.

"Does someone want to explain to Tobi what this chica means?" The purple-haired man asked, his curiosity suddenly aroused, as well.

Kate was the one to offer an answer, "The guys gave all of us ladies and the rest of the club a surprise strip show, and sweet baby Jesus, were they yummy."

Jamie turned toward his partner, narrowing his eyes at the man, "And you wanted to watch a movie…"

"How was I supposed to know?!" Tobi shot back.

Ignoring Tobi and Jamie's bickering, Mae, who had been relatively silent for most of the night, turned to her son. She had her arms folded over her chest, an eyebrow raised in questioning, "Yes, son. Please tell all of us how you came to be so talented in something such as stripping. No one just hops up onto a stage and starts doing what you did back there."

_Bollocks!_ Seamus knew there was no way he was getting out of telling how he had come to be a stripper. Sighing heavily, he began his tale, "It's interesting to think that women in Dublin are practically obsessed with men such as the ones in this car…"

* * *

_Dublin, Ireland – 2 Years Earlier_

Hundreds of women of all ages between eighteen and seventy-ish packed the auditorium in the heart of downtown, screaming his name just as they did every weekend. The thought that the women craved him sent a warm feeling raging through his body, helping to pump him up for the night's show. With every passing second the din in the auditorium grew louder as the women cried out his name. They were there to see _him_. But why? What made him so irresistible to them? He didn't have to look outside to know it was a full house he and his fellow dancers were about to walk out into.

Feeling a hand slap him on the back, Seamus turned around to see a dancer named Emmanuel walk past him on his way out to the stage, "Ready to have some woman to start stalking you after tonight? You know it happens every time." He shoved the waistband of his jeans down a little to show off his hipbones, "I would start carrying a taser if I were you. I mean, a cattle prod works better, but that's just me."

"Whatever you do please don't pull another fluffy from the crowd like you did last week." Seamus followed behind his friend, waiting for their turn to enter the stage, "My shoulder is still messed up from hanging on to her."

"Sorry dude. They need love, too."

"My shoulder wasn't feeling the love."

The two of them heard their cue, and they stepped out into the bright lights to a roar of applause and screaming. There wasn't much thinking about what they were doing; it was the same routine they performed every opening, so it had become engrained within every one of the dancers. One at a time each one of them took their turn showing off what made them most notable amongst the others as their names flashed across the screens to either side of the stage. When it was Seamus's turn, he stepped up to the edge of the stage and whipped his head about so that his beautiful long locks landed over one of his shoulders. He finished off his intro by turning away from the audience and flexing the muscles of his backside, sending the women into a frenzy. Despite the men having jeans covering their best features, the women still got a taste of what lay hidden beneath in the form of toned muscles perfectly sculpted.

The men moved fluidly with every beat of the music, posing in ways to show off the muscles of their arms. At one point they dropped down to the stage, leaning backwards while balancing on their hands and feet before popping their hips upward to mimic a provocative bedroom move. The women went nuts. As the end of the song neared the men jumped off the stage into the audience to mingle among the women. Seamus took the opportunity to dance with a few women who appeared to be in their early twenties; it was really the only chance for them to get up close and personal with the men unless they were one of the lucky few to get pulled on stage. Eventually, the final notes of the song faded into the distance, followed by each of the dancers disappearing from view. And yet, the night was only beginning.

With only a few minutes in between numbers Seamus hurried through dressing in the wardrobe that most women in Dublin knew him for. He fastened the button on the front of the low-rise black leather pants that clung to his well-defined muscular thighs. If they had been any tighter he was afraid he wouldn't be able to squeeze his best assets into them. _No bending over for me tonight. _And that was when he remembered he had forgotten to put his boots on before buttoning the pants. _Shit. _In what resembled an awkward volleyball stance, Seamus carefully leaned over, his legs spread far apart to keep from splitting the pants as he tied the laces of the black boots he had just stepped into.

"You know, Seamus I would considering having Cleo get you a bigger pants size so your goods aren't begging for mercy every time you put them on," Emmanuel joked, referring to the show's owner and manager. He had also started to change into clothes similar to Seamus's.

With only minutes remaining before the next routine, the two men headed off to separate parts of the building, Seamus tugging on a black tank as he went. Tucked securely in the belt loops of his pants were several throwing hatchets, but they were still easily accessible. After entering the dark auditorium he quickly scaled the stairs to the catwalk above where an elaborate wrought iron chandelier awaited him. Inspecting the chain that held the fixture, Seamus silently prayed it would be another night where everything worked properly and he didn't have to worry about plunging to his death.

_Wouldn't that just upset Cleo. _He scoffed at the manager as he secured the harness around his waist before attaching it to the bungee cord affixed to the chandelier. The only reason he was the one that performed that part of the routine was for the simple fact that the other dancers were terrified of heights, all of them except for he and Emmanuel… and that he was damn good at throwing sharp objects and hitting his mark.

Down below, picking his way through the hordes of screaming women, Emmanuel was searching for one to bring up onto the stage for the routine. He picked a younger woman who appeared to be in her mid-twenties. She gave a small flip of her hair and threw a look back at her friends as she followed Emmanuel to the stage where a strange contraption was set up. It was two steel poles standing on either side of what appeared to be plywood bearing nicks resembling those of a knife or some other bladed object.

Emmanuel set about taking the pieces of rope attached to the poles and tied them around the woman's wrists before doing the same to her ankles. When he was finished, her arms were spread out to either side of her body with her legs affixed to the board, also spread slightly, the rope running in between them. She was completely at the men's mercy.

"Looks like you need a hero," Emmanuel ran his fingers along her jaw line before disappearing into the darkness.

Shortly afterwards music drummed up throughout the auditorium, sending the women into a frenzy. The woman tied up on the stage glanced around in anticipation of what was to happen. Suddenly, an object flew at her from an unknown location until it stuck in the plywood with an audible _thunk_. Her eyes moved to the side to find a hatchet only inches away from her wrist, its blade buried deep in the wood. The next thing her mind registered was that the rope had been sliced clean through. Seconds later there was another _thunk_ on the opposite side of her body. Another hatchet. Once again, the woman's wrist was freed from its confinement, allowing her to move her upper body. A final hatchet sliced through the rope between her legs and found its mark in the board.

A roar of screams erupted around the auditorium a minute or so later when the chandelier that had been situated overhead suddenly dropped down toward the audience, and then swung forward. Hanging upside down with his knees and ankles entwined in one of the chandelier arms was Seamus. In the blink of an eye the chandelier swung low and close enough for him to snatch up the woman. Using the strength of his arms Seamus was able to swing the woman up toward him until she had her arms around his torso. She clung to him for dear life, afraid to look down. When the chandelier started to slow Seamus was able to swing both of them up to a sitting position on the arms. The woman shook with a mixture of fear and nervousness; they were a good hundred feet or more in the air with no apparent safety net beneath them.

After the chandelier was relatively still Seamus helped the woman stand while securing a safety harness around her, having to constantly lift the arms clinging to him just so he could fasten the harness.

_If she's scared now she won't sleep for a month after what I'm about to do. _Seamus lifted her chin so that she was nose to nose with him, "Are you ready?"

"Ready? Ready for w-what?" Her voice shook when she finally found it.

Without another word a sinister grin spread across his face. That was when he jumped backwards with the woman attached to him. The two of them hurtled downward, the woman's screams filling the auditorium as she put a death grip on Seamus. It filled him with a rush of adrenaline knowing he was going to leave her with a night to remember after she was able to breathe again. Any second the bungee cord would go taut, sending them skyward. Right when it seemed they would crash into the audience Seamus reached out to push off the back of a seat in the audience, sending them rocketing back toward the ceiling with the woman resuming her screams. As they neared the chandelier a familiar set of hands grasped onto the woman's harness, slowing their wild ride. It was Emmanuel, who had slid down the chain suspending the light fixture from the ceiling. He pulled the woman into the safety of his arms just as Seamus unsnapped his own harness, leaving him dangling from one of the chandelier arms to support his weight.

Everyone in the auditorium looked on in horror as one of Seamus's hands slipped from the wrought iron arm; it didn't seem possible that he could hang there for very long before his shoulder became tired. Where was the safety crew when they were needed? The seconds ticked by at a snail's pace, only adding to the audience's worry. Their worst fear became a reality when they witnessed his fingers slip one by one from the arm until he was falling. Then darkness arrived, the room so dark one couldn't see two inches in front of their faces. Screams echoed around the building, some crying out for paramedics to aid in the dancer they had just seen plummet to what was surely their death.

Signs of relief replaced the screams when the lights turned on again. Still there was something wrong. Where was the dancer?! Not one of the women noticed a body lying around on any of the seats even after seeing him fall. It was mind-boggling. No one could have survived a fall like that; if they had they wouldn't have been able to get up and walk away.

"Looking for something, ladies?"

The women's heads whipped around toward the stage where they gawked in amazement at the man standing at the edge wearing only black leather pants and combat boots. It was Seamus… completely unscathed and irresistible as ever. They weren't going to try to comprehend how he had made it out of that stunt alive. There was only one explanation: he was a god.

* * *

Not long after the show had ended and the dancers had changed into more comfortable clothing the men mingled amongst the women that had stayed behind to flirt with the men, and if they were lucky, score some of their numbers. Whilst Emmanuel stayed rooted to his seat beside a cute brunette with blonde highlights chatting animatedly, Seamus slipped off to a quiet, secluded corner of the auditorium. He wasn't one for putting himself out there willingly for some female to hang all over him. Sure, he liked his job of stripping down for their enjoyment, but that was where it ended. Let the other men have their fun; they'd regret it eventually when they had an intoxicated crack whore trying to molest them.

Seamus had just pulled out his phone to do a little more research on his biological family when the show's owner, Cleo whistled at him as she walked toward him with a shy, young woman close to her.

"Seamus, I'd like you to meet this pretty young thing. Lily is her name." Cleo gestured toward the woman, who gave a little wave before her cheeks turned red out of embarrassment, "She has paid for a little special service from you seeing as how she just turned the big two one."

The dark green male eyed the owner suspiciously as he was unsure of what she was referring to by 'special service', "Please enlighten me, Cleo. I'm not quite following."

"What's there to follow, Seamus? You're going to take her to one of the rooms behind the stage and do what it is that you men do so well."

"Sleep with her?!"

"Precisely."

_What is this woman smoking?_ Seamus moved his attention from Cleo to Lily and then back to Cleo all while trying to process everything the owner had said. "Since when did _Kilts and Renegades_ become a brothel?"

Having made his rounds over to a group of women nearest to where Seamus was, Emmanuel chimed in nonchalantly, "Come to think of it, why is this place called '_Kilts and Renegades_'? Kilts aren't even part of our dress."

"An excellent point, Emmanuel." Cleo pulled out a piece of paper from her clipboard to scribble a note on, "I'll make a note to consider changing that."

Mouth agape and eyebrow cocked in questioning, Seamus spoke again, "Can we get back to discussing _this_?" He gestured toward Lily.

"There's nothing to discuss. You're going to take her back and get busy. She's paid for two hours, so… go have fun."

"Okay, first of all, nowhere in my contract does it say after the shows to screw the broads."

Cleo laughed, "Obviously you didn't read the fine print."

"What fine print?"

The owner flipped through the clipboard of papers she held until she found what she was looking for: Seamus's contract. She pointed to an area at the bottom of the page with her pen, "There."

He leaned forward in order to read what appeared to be nothing more than a blank area. Upon closer inspection he could make out lines of black ink with letters the size of a gnat, if not smaller. "Oh, that's bullshit. It's not fine print if you have to use an electron microscope to read it."

"But it's there, yes?"

Without saying a word in reply, Seamus turned and headed for the exit; as far as he was concerned he was turning in his g-string for good. He wasn't going to be used for sex; saving his virginity for someone he treasured.

_She'd shit a brick if she knew I was a virgin_, he thought.

"Where are you going, Seamus? You signed a contract," She held up the contract beside her head to remind him.

In a fluid motion, Seamus reached into the waistband of his pants, and turning around, flung a four inch knife at the paper. The blade found its mark, pinning the contract to the wall behind Cleo, whose eyes had grown to the size of saucers when he had thrown his knife at her head, or what was close enough to it.

Seamus stepped up to Cleo, his face inches from hers as his hand retrieved the knife, "That's what I have to say about your contract." He turned away from her seeing as how he had made his point. Before stepping through the exit, Seamus threw up a peace sign, "Deuces, a bhitseach." _Something to remember me by._

The night air was a big relief to Seamus after being controlled by Cleo for so long. Never did he think she had been using her dancers as prostitutes to reap more money for her own selfish desires. Lord only knew what she charged for those services. It was sickening to think about.

"Dawson!"

Seamus turned around in the middle of the street to see Emmanuel running toward him. The man had thrown on a skin tight shirt and had his bag slung over a shoulder. He avoided a car flying by as he started into the street after Seamus.

"What are you doing, Emmanuel?" Seamus questioned.

"I'm coming with you. I always had that sneaking feeling Cleo was up to something." Emmanuel pulled a cigarette out of his shirt pocket and stuck it between his teeth before lighting up. He blew a plume of smoke out and asked, "What are you going to do now, Seamus?"

"Well, I'll find me a temporary job, and when I save up enough money I'm going to the States to find my family."


	6. Chapter 5

**Author's Note: **Gaelic name's in this chapter... Aoife (Pronounce it like _Ee-fa_). **Warning: some mature content**

**Chapter 5**

It was nearly two in the morning by the time Tobi pulled the black Cruze up the long driveway to the farm. He parked the car beside Kate's lime green Camaro long enough for his passengers to scramble out; Seamus's peek into his interesting past during the drive to Jefferson had aroused the beast that lay in hibernation within the gay man, and he was eager to get back to the apartment he shared with Jamie to appease his urges.

The group watched the taillights disappear down the driveway before turning for the house. Gabriel was having a difficult time of finding the keys, patting down every inch of his body in hopes of locating the damn things. He didn't want to admit it, but he was past tipsy and bordering on hammered.

The only thought that crossed his mind was, _You know you're Irish when…_

"Any day now… hic… Dammit, I'm drunk," Ellen griped while leaning against an equally drunk Kate.

"Who izn't, Zmelly Ellie?" Casey shot back and teetered backwards, nearly crashing into Rob.

The scarlet woman narrowed one eye at Casey instead of both as she resembled Jack Sparrow by the way she staggered toward him with her arms waving everywhere, "If I could see straight I'd clobber… hic… both of you." She fell forward onto the grass, her face buried in the soft blades.

"Ellie, there's only one of Casey… I think." Seamus started over to help his wife to her feet and ended up tripping over her legs. He fell face first into Kate's cleavage. Not necessarily a bad thing, "Well hellooo, beautiful. Twins I see."

Kate held her brother-in-law away from her and said, "Gabe, how about we just go in the back door? It's always open." The fact that the back door never being locked was the sole reason Shannon and Tate had been kidnapped didn't cross her mind. Probably because the excessive amounts of alcohol she had guzzled disabled her ability to think clearly.

"Right. You're zo zmart. I zhould marry you." Gabriel threw a wink at Faye standing nearby, thinking it was Kate.

"I'm over here… and we _are _married." Kate shoved Seamus away to pull her husband out of reach of Faye.

"I knew that." Gabriel started a staggering walk around the side of the house, calling back, "Thizz one doezzn't have ginormouz boobieeezz like you do, Katie Bug."

Hearing the slam made against her, Faye scoffed, "Gee thanks!"

While the younger members of the family followed behind Gabriel as best they could in their current state, Rob, Mae, Riley and Moira decided to stay behind and hang out in the Camaro for a while. Why, the others didn't have a clue. As the group rounded the side of the house they lost another person; Sean took a detour to the front porch where he decided to crash on the porch swing. The rest of them made it to the back door, and sure enough, Gabriel was able to push it right open. As quietly as they could, all six of them tiptoed past a sleeping Charlie and into the living room. The softness of the couch and love seat was welcomed greatly, giving them a place to recover from their intoxicated state. That would be short-lived, because Casey stumbled in from the kitchen, having discovered the Jello shots in the fridge.

"Lookie what I found!" He dropped the tray on the coffee table.

Ellen immediately popped one into her mouth not even caring that she was already plastered, "Hell yes! Let's get drunk!"

"We are drunk." Ava pointed out.

"Then let's get drunker!"

In all of ten minutes time they had demolished the pyramid of multi-colored Jello shots, leaving the containers scattered about. Most everyone laid sprawled across the furniture, their heads spinning like crazy from the effects of the alcohol. Before long, the random singing stage of their drunkenness began.

"_As I went home on a Monday night as drunk as drunk can be, I saw a horse outside the door where my old horse should be._" Seamus sang, his Irish accent stronger than usual, "_Well, I called me wife and I said to her: 'Will you kindly tell to me who owns that horse outside the door where my old horse should be?'_"

Gabriel and Casey joined in on the chorus as soon as they had recognized the song.

"'_Ah, you're drunk, you're drunk, you zilly old fool, ztill you cannot zee. That'z a lovely zow that me mother zent to me. It'z many a day I've travelled a hundred milez or more, but a zaddle on a zow zure I never zaw before.'_"

On and on they sang through each verse, their voices growing louder and louder as they went along. The women's laughter only added to the men's gleefulness. Then it came time for Casey to start the next round of the song. Using a candlestick that had been sitting in the middle of the coffee table as a microphone he began.

"_Well, az I came home on a–_" A look of uncertainty marked his face, "What day are we on, again?"

The others glanced around at each other hoping someone had the answer.

"Er… Friday!" Gabriel responded.

"_Az I came home on a Friday night az drunk az drunk can be I zaw a head upon the bed where my bald head zhould be._" Casey continued, "_Well I called me wife and I zaid to her–'_"

"SHUT UP IN THERE! I'M TRYNA SLEEP!" Sean's voice reverberated around the room, causing the others in the living room to scatter like roaches. It was amazing how far his voice travelled when he was mad.

Ava rolled her eyes at her boyfriend, "Someone's a party pooper tonight."

Seamus chose that as the perfect time to go get a shower before Sean decided to do something drastic. The rest of the family watched him stagger down the hallway, occasionally bumping into a wall or two as he went. Right after he had disappeared, a phone chirped. Everyone instinctively pulled theirs out to check it until they realized that it had been Casey's that had gone off. In a matter of seconds his mood went from carefree to demonic. His ex, Aoifé had sent him a text. It had been months since he had heard from her last, and he was okay with that. Every few seconds the phone would chirp, followed by him nearly snapping his phone in half whenever he responded.

Curious as to what Casey was getting so heated about, Ellen carefully leaned closer to him:

**The Hag:** I want my child, Casey.

**Casey:** When Hell freezes.

**The Hag:** In case you haven't forgotten it was I who pushed her out of my vag.

**Casey:**In case YOU forgot I have custody of her.

_Amazing how well Casey can type when he's drunk_, Ellen thought and returned her attention back to the phone screen.

**The Hag**: This isn't over. I will get her back.

**Casey**: Run along ho.

"Daaaamn! I'm sensing some hate," Ellen commented as soon as Casey shoved his phone back in his jeans pocket.

He grumbled what sounded like Irish curses under his breath before replying, "Aoifé'z not Tate'z mother. She wanted nothing to do with her after zhe was born."

"How… hic… sad." She twisted her body around so that her legs were stretched across Casey's lap, "I wouldn't be a good mother… hic… Job's too hectic for a kid."

Casey was just about to explain how great being a parent was when all of them heard a thumping coming down the hallway from the direction of the bathroom. They stared in shock the moment Seamus burst into the living room with a horrified expression plastered on his face; he was stark naked, every asset in plain view for all to see. The sight of him made a few of the women blush violently, especially Ava who had only heard stories of how well endowed Seamus was.

"Shay… are you okay?" Kate questioned hesitantly.

He spoke in a rush, "The shower won't stop crying! I don't know what to do!"

"Um, it's supposed to do that. Just go back in there and take your shower so Ava will stop blushing like a teenage girl who's never seen a penis before."

For a while Kate, Faye, and Ellen had engaged Gabriel and Casey in drunken conversation about the Irish language; primarily what old Irish curses meant. Right in the middle of an explanation Gabriel passed out on the floor, his head underneath the coffee table. Figuring he would just sleep it off, Kate and Faye headed toward Kate's bedroom to change into their pajamas while Ava went outside on the front porch to keep Sean company. That left Ellen and Casey alone. Not the best pairing considering how they despised each other under normal circumstances.

For a while they sat there on the couch in silence watching Gabriel's chest rise and fall as he slept, his mouth agape with a gurgling sound coming from within as the saliva pooled at the back of his throat.

"He's not a very attractive… hic… sleeper," Ellen whispered.

Casey threw his feet onto the top of the coffee table, "Mozt men aren't when they're drunk."

"So, why did you pick Aoifé?"

"Zhe was zo hot when I met her," He explained. "I had to have her. Never thought zhe would be thiz much trouble."

Ellen chuckled, "Typical man. Always thinking with the wrong head." Her annoying hiccups had finally gone away, thankfully, but for some reason the longer she discussed Casey's ex, the more she felt sorry for him. In fact, she couldn't stand the thought of that woman sharing the bed with him and then threatening to take his daughter away. _Only I can give him hell. He's my punching bag_, she thought as her hands balled into fists out of reaction.

"Are you okay, Maleficent?" Casey had noticed her sudden change in demeanor.

Ellen ignored Casey's nickname for her, "She didn't love you. She used you."

"But I got me daughter out of it. I wouldn't trade Tate for the world."

A smile appeared at the corners of Ellen's mouth at the mention of the one and a half year old, "I find that rather attractive, Casey; a father who loves his baby unconditionally when the mother is a piece of work." Without realizing what she was doing, she inched closer to Casey. It most likely was an effect of the alcohol causing her to behave that way, but she wanted him. Just a taste. Faye wouldn't even have to know.

Before he saw it coming, Casey's body was pressed into the back of the couch when Ellen took the liberty to plant herself on his lap, her hipbones shoved into his. There was no stopping Ellen from discovering what made Faye crazy about her husband. Tingles coursed throughout her body upon her lips meeting his; they were surprisingly soft and quite full for belonging to a man. Casey responded by parting his lips ever so slightly to allow Ellen to dip her tongue inside for a little more action. Despite the overwhelming smell of liquor on both of their breaths, Ellen put herself in the moment, nipping his lips and practically forcing her tongue down his throat.

Casey found it odd that Ellen was throwing herself at him to the point of being intimate. Any other time she was thinking of some way to maul him. It just wasn't normal. Then again, he was a fool to pass up the opportunity. Further down his body another part of him reacted as it should to Ellen's efforts, and he was quite sure she had noticed, too, because she began to rock her pelvis against his as her lips strayed over to the soft tissue of his neck.

Casey's heart pounded in his chest. _Crap! She's a vampire!_ He was sorely mistaken on the new assumption. The little nips and nibbles she gave his neck caused his temperature to rise. One thing was for certain, Ellen wouldn't be able to walk straight the following day; he'd make sure of that.

Elsewhere in the house, Kate inched down the hallway while leaning against the wall for support. Faye had passed out on the bed shortly after pulling on her pajama bottoms, leaving Kate alone to find something to do for entertainment. She had heard the shower turn off a while back, but the bathroom door had never opened. That worried her. She needed to ensure Seamus was all right.

Opening the bathroom door, Kate felt it hit something. Her eyes widened in shock when she stuck her head inside and found the male with the dark green hair face down and naked on the floor, unmoving.

"Seamus!" Kate managed to squeeze through the narrow opening before dropping down beside him. To her relief she saw his back move with his breathing, "Thank God he's not dead," she carefully shook him in an attempt to wake him. "Come on, Shay, you need to get up so you can go lay down on something more comfortable besides the bathroom floor."

He mumbled something inaudible to her.

"What?" Kate pulled on his shoulders, "Let's go, big boy." She fell back against the sink when he pushed himself to his feet. Her eyes fell on his nether region; butterflies flitted about inside of her stomach at the sight of his manhood on display. _'Big' is right._

For his own decency, Kate wrapped a towel around his waist while trying to ignore the fact that she was only inches away from the most private part of his body. Once somewhat stable, she helped him out of the bathroom, but halfway down the hall Seamus took the blonde woman by surprise when he suddenly pushed her against the wall, covering her mouth with his.

"Are you crazy?!" Kate shoved him away only to be pulled right back, her chest pressed against his, "Okay."

She didn't recall how they got to the bedroom, all she knew was the next place she found herself was on her bed with Seamus perched over her, his long, wet hair draped downward like a green curtain. It had been taken out of its normal fishtail braids that he always wrapped around the crown of his head. It was strange seeing him with it down.

"You need to loosen up," Seamus ignored Faye sprawled out beside Kate, snoring softly. "Hang on for the ride, love."

Kate clung to the duvet when Seamus forced his knee between her legs, shoving them apart for easy access. He wasted no time getting her jeans off, throwing them over the side of the bed in a pile. She may have been drunk and probably wouldn't remember any of it when she woke up, but that wasn't going to stop her from enjoying it right then. The sensation of wetness increased rapidly at the thought of Seamus plunging his member deep inside her depths, entering and retreating the same way her husband did.

There was still apprehension lurking in the back of Kate's mind of what Ellen would do if she were ever to find out about their little adventure. Then there was Faye only inches away from where she lay. What would she think if she happened to wake up and see them?

"I may be drunk as sin right now, but I can tell you're too worried about something. Relax." Seamus pressed his lips to her collar bone, his hands sliding their way up her sides, savoring her soft curves.

His voice, with that sultry Irish accent, must have had some kind of soothing quality to it, because Kate relaxed underneath his touch, every muscle becoming less rigid. Little tingles rushed up her spine the moment his soft lips met the insides of her thighs, covering her skin with delicate kisses. The closer he moved to the apex of her thighs, the more she found her body reacting, back arching and toes curling. It was ecstasy.

A new fire was lit within her core when Seamus bit the lobe of her ear; never before had Kate realized what a turn on that was for her. More. Her body craved more!

Casey couldn't believe his eyes once Ellen had bared the skin of her chest to him. He stared in awe at the jagged scars running from the side of Ellen's neck across the majority of her chest, the puckered skin glaring back at him. Words escaped him, or he didn't exactly know what to say without offending the woman. It was enough for her to undress in front of him, let alone having to explain how she acquired the massive scars.

"It's ugly, isn't it?" Ellen said with a frown, "I can read it plain as day on your face." Her fingers traced along the scars out of habit, sending her into a flood of memories from a time when she lived in fear of the monster that created who she had become, the woman who despised the race of men. Even with the alcohol overpowering all other senses, she could still clearly recall the night her body had been marred forever.

"No… I don't think it'z ugly," Casey cleared his throat, unable to turn away from the remainder of her horrific wound. Not once had Ellen even mentioned the scars to any of them, at least not that he knew of. _This explains a lot._ He couldn't contain his curiosity any longer. "H-how did that happen to you?"

Ellen started to pull a throw blanket over her, but stopped herself from resorting back to her old ways, "My stepfather decided to carve me up one night when I was seventeen. I got home a little late, and the bastard raped me before taking a knife to my chest. I almost bled out."

"I can underztand why you aren't fond of men, and I don't blame you."

"Yeah, well, karma will get him in the end."

Satisfied with the explanation Ellen had given him about why she was always hostile, Casey made a point to leave her be, moving to the opposite end of the couch. It wasn't right of him to take advantage of her when she was intoxicated, especially when she wasn't the one married to him. He just couldn't do it. Maybe it was from her opening herself up to him rather than biting his head off like she usually did.

Glancing over at his cousin down for the count on the floor, Casey replied with a yawn, "That'zz a great idea, Gabe. Think I will take your lead." Before long he had his head tilted back against the couch's armrest with his feet dangling over the edge of the couch cushion; it was bedtime for him.

Seamus, on the other hand, was balls deep inside of Kate's hot passage, digging his fingers into her hipbones to give him some leverage as he rocked her forcefully against the headboard of her bed. The wood beat against the wall every time he slammed his erection into her. It was a wonder all of the commotion hadn't woken Faye from her sleep. Still, the woman slept on, occasionally moaning something neither Seamus nor Kate understood, that, and they didn't care.

For some unknown reason Kate found herself enjoying the moment more than she did with her own husband. It had to be because she had never been with any other man and didn't know otherwise. _Gabe would kill me if he ever found out about this._

Kate was pulled from her thoughts by the sound of Seamus grunting his pleasure each time he slammed into her. The man had sweat covering his body from his intense movements, the moisture dripping down the strands of hair beside his head. He reminded her so much of Gabriel in the way he moved, forceful but still loving, if it could be called that. She could swear it was her own husband on top of her, filling her depths with that wonderful, thick–."

"Sweet Jesus!" Seamus called out when his climax hit.

Warm drops of liquid spattered her belly seconds later. Kate glanced down to find her skin covered in his seed. Her eyes moved from the glistening patches up to his face; dark aqua eyes watched her closely, waiting for her to speak. She never did.

"Kate? Seamus?"

Their heads flashed to the side to see Faye with her mouth agape in complete disbelief; she had witnessed everything.

Seamus woke up later on that morning feeling an unusually heavy weight on his chest, too heavy for it to just be Ellen using him as a pillow. When he opened his eyes, he saw why, too. He was pinned down to the floor by the weight of his younger brother, and on top of him, Casey. _What the hell? How did this happen? And an even better question would be is how did Casey end up on the top of the pile? _

Just then, Gabriel stirred and slowly came to, and was quick to realize the awkward position he was in, having been pinned down on his stomach on top of his brother. "Seamus?"

"'Morning. And before you ask, I have no idea how we got into this situation," Seamus mumbled all the while trying to squirm out from underneath the weight of Gabriel with no luck.

Gabriel closed his eyes and sighed upon noticing there was a heavy weight pinning him down, "Casey's on top me, isn't he?"

"Yep."

"He weighs a ton," the younger male uttered in the most monotone voice he could muster, which could have been from the fact that he was still groggy from sleep.

"Well, you're not exactly light, either." Seamus stated matter-of-factly.

"Wait…are you implying that I'm fat?"

"Er, guys, don't you think we can maybe have this conversation later?" Casey interrupted as he woke up at the top of the pile, lying flat on his back, staring up at the ceiling. His eyes darted around in an attempt to figure out where exactly he was.

"SHUT UP CASEY!" Both Gabriel and Seamus groaned in unison.

"What did I do?"

An awkward silence fell as the same thought crossed their minds, noticing an uncomfortable draft on parts of their bodies where they shouldn't feel drafts: _Where are my clothes?_

"Well, it must be uncomfortable down there," Casey commented. "Never thought of Shay as the submissive type, though."

"Casey, didn't I just tell you to _shut it_," Seamus snapped up at his cousin, before his face turned a vivid red, "I don't even want to know what is jabbing me in the stomach, but I can take a guess."

Gabriel mumbled out of embarrassment, "Sorry, Shay."

"Whatever you're thinking about right now, you better stop thinking about it. That goes for you too, Casey."

"What?" Casey protested, "I was just thinking about how we're going to get up since you two are so caught up being pinned to each other… and well, me being on top."

"Shouldn't we try to get ourselves unstuck before we do that?" Gabriel asked. He slowly turned his head, only to have the other two cry out in pain. Instead of moving his head he moved his eyes to the side and saw what had caused the pain he also felt when he had turned his head, "Our hair is braided together…"

"Yeah, good luck with that one," Casey said skeptically. "Face it guys, we need help getting outta this mess."

"Well, I don't think we're gonna be getting up any time soon," Seamus said. "I mean, how do we walk?"

"You could always carry us, Shay."

Seamus slapped the palm of his hand to his forehead, "Stop making sense, Casey. It's creeping us out."

Using the strength of his arms and thighs, the older man pushed all three of them to their feet, ignoring their groans of pain caused from their hair being pulled.

Casey's eyebrows furrowed in anger, "I have an idea of who did this to us." _Ellen, you heartless wench. I knew you couldn't be trusted. _

In the kitchen Kate, Ellen, and Faye sat at the old mahogany table eating their breakfasts consisting of cereal, glasses of milk, and toast. All three of them had woken up with headaches; Ellen's being the most severe, which didn't come as a surprise to any of them.

Ellen silently swirled her spoon around in the mixture of Raisin Bran and milk while the other two pressured her for details of what happened to her after they had gone to change into their pajamas. Needless to say, they were quite surprised to learn that she showed Casey her scars, Kate being even more surprised that Ellen even had the scars and didn't bother to tell her.

"What did Casey think when you showed him?" Faye didn't seem mad at all that her best friend had exposed her breasts to her husband. She behaved more like a gossiping teenager than a pissed off wife.

Kate just couldn't get past the idea of Ellen keeping secrets from her all along, "How long have you had the scars, Ellen?"

"Enough about my scars, already!" Ellen dropped the spoon into her bowl, growing irritated, "As for your husband, Faye, he wasn't disgusted by the sight of them… And if you must know, I didn't have sex with him. He was being faithful to his woman."

Both Ellen and Faye cast knowing gazes upon Kate, whose cheeks turned a pinkish tint. After hearing from Faye about what she had witnessed in the bedroom, Ellen was more so intrigued by it than angry at Kate for sleeping with her husband.

"Seamus was the one who jumped me!" Kate interjected.

The women's discussion was interrupted by the sound of heavy footsteps approaching the kitchen. Moments later Gabriel, Seamus, and Casey appeared through the doorway, looks of malice on their faces. All three pairs of eyes zeroed in on Ellen sitting between the other two women, her face showing no emotion save for a small smile turning up one corner of her mouth when she noticed the men. The other two gawked at the men's naked bodies, raping them with their eyes.

"I didn't know I'd be having sausage with my cereal this morning." Ellen quipped.

Teeth gritted, Casey pointed a finger directly at Ellen, "Get us out of this, or so help me…"

"Kate, go get the clippers."

"NO!" Seamus's voice was almost demonic in nature when he heard what she had suggested.

Before a war broke out in the middle of the kitchen Faye walked over to the men and proceeded to undo the intense braid Ellen had put them in while they slept. With little pain induced, she was able to free them from their predicament, with not a strand of hair left tangled.

Not even concerned about putting clothes on to cover his nakedness, Gabriel took a seat at the table, reaching for a piece of toast, "Now, does anyone care to tell me why in the name of Jefferson Davis we're naked, mainly me since I don't give a damn that the other two goons are naked as well."

"I can attest to that."

All of them turned around to see Ava walk in, her hair sticking up in every direction, evidence of sleeping outside on the porch swing with Sean. She went straight for the coffee pot, desperate for a shot of caffeine to wake her up.

"Do tell, Ava." Gabriel urged.

After gulping down half her mug of black coffee she began, "Around this morning I cracked my eye and saw you stumble outside to the front steps, and there you completely stripped down to your birthday suit. I didn't know what the hell you were doing until I watched you do that whole 'drunk guy' lean against one of the columns to take a leak in the flowerbed," Ava polished off the rest of her coffee. "I've never seen a drunkard arc their stream like that. Quite impressive."

Gabriel's face turned a bright red. "Oh." He ignored Seamus and Casey snickering behind him. After stuffing half of his slice of toast into his mouth, he said, "I hope you ladies got your uniforms back from Beth's. We leave for Missouri in a week or so."

Ellen perked up at the mention of the reenactment. "I'm ready to bust up a couple of Yankees."

_May God have mercy on the souls of the men who cross her path_, Gabriel thought. His voice dripped with sarcasm when he replied. "Oh joy."

Just to annoy the women, Casey planted his bare backside on the table top, inches away from Ellen's cereal bowl. Despite the nasty look she gave him, he turned his attention to Seamus holding a dish towel over his nether region for a little modesty. "Shay, you might want to control your roman candle of a wife when we get there. I don't want to bail her out of jail for murdering anyone."

"I will," Seamus nodded his head at Kate. "Just as long as Gabriel controls his walking arsenal over there."

Kate shrugged her shoulders in reply. "They won't know what hit them."


	7. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

The few short weeks leading up to the day the Dawson's were to leave for Missouri were spent with Gabriel drilling the new members of his cavalry extensively. If any of them messed up on a single maneuver he would make them redo it until it was perfect. By the end of each day, Ellen, Faye, Tobi, and Jamie were ready to drop from their horses; if it hadn't been for Casey supplying the horses from his ranch just as he had for Seamus and Riley, they wouldn't even have horses to ride.

After all of their hard work they found themselves on the road for Lexington, Missouri where the Battle of the Hemp Bales was held. After making the mistake of allowing Casey to ride with them on the long drive to Gettysburg, Gabriel forced his cousin to take his own truck, simply because they had more horses to transport and they needed the extra towing power. That, and he didn't want to deal with Casey's antics. He was right about that, there was no escaping his moments of stupidity.

Having left early in the morning to arrive at the reenactment location before dark, the caravan wound up making a pit stop in Oklahoma, but it wasn't much of a stop, because Gabriel hurried everyone along to get back on the road. It was just enough time to empty their bladders; fill the trucks up with gas; and grab a bag of chips at the nearest gas station.

Casey took the short time allowed to check on the horses in the trailer he pulled. He immediately regretted the decision soon after opening the trailer doors. While most of the horses greeted him with whickers and impatient stamping, one horse wasn't as impressed to see him. He took a swift kick to the inner thigh from the horse Ellen rode, Kronos, a black and white piebald gelding with one wall eye.

_That blasted woman is rubbing off on my horse_, Casey thought in irritation as he locked the trailer door, eager to get away from the temperamental nag. He rubbed at the area on his leg where the horse had nailed him in an effort to rid himself of the pain. Panic set in when he headed around to the driver's side and saw that the other trucks and trailers were already pulling onto the highway. "Shit!" He ignored Faye's annoyed expression upon throwing himself in the cab and slamming the lifted up Chevy into 'drive'. Knowing the others, they'd give him hell for getting behind.

"You're always late, Casey. It doesn't matter where we go," Faye rolled her eyes at him, sighing heavily. "I swear you'd be late to your own funeral if given the chance."

"Wumin! Do not start with me! It's not me fault your best friend's horse decided it wanted to kick the daylights out of me!" Casey shot back.

Faye was just about to start nagging him some more when Casey's phone started ringing on the center console. She checked the caller I.D. It was Aoife. Jabbing the 'answer' button, Faye yelled into the speaker. "He doesn't have time to talk to you, skank!"

For a split second Casey thought his wife was going to destroy his phone when she threw it in the floorboard. She had been acting very strange over the past week; extremely moody; not wanting to be touched; shoveling down food whenever she had the chance.. The activity was not normal for her. In the end Casey blamed her odd behavior on PMS.

"Are you okay, Faye?" He questioned, "You've been acting really weird."

"It's nothing. I'm just agitated today." Faye turned her gaze out her window at the miles of farmland passing by. She wasn't in the mood for discussing her behavior.

_I'll just leave her alone for a while; let her cool down. _Casey turned his attention back to the burnt orange Avalanche in front of him driven by Seamus.

The truck slowed down and then sped back up. It did that several times, forcing Casey to keep his foot hovering over the brake pedal. The fifth time it happened he nearly smashed into the back of the Avalanche. Seamus was break-checking him intentionally.

Being the idiot he was, he took his eyes off the road to get his phone and proceeded to call his cousin. On the third ring Seamus answered.

"Yeah?"

"You're truck is gonna look really cute when mine turns it into a Fiat!" Casey shouted just to razz Seamus.

There was a chuckle on the other end. "I'll see that you receive the bill on the repairs."

"Nah, I'll pass," Casey noticed Sean's black truck pass them with Ava signing something out her window at them. "We better stop messing around and catch up to Gabriel. I'm pretty sure Ava just flipped us the bird and cussed us out for holding up the line."

"Alright. Alright. See ya when we get there."

"Peace, bruh." Casey shoved the phone between his legs, out of reach of his wife in case she decided to take her mood swings out on the device again. He'd rather have his balls vibrated around whenever a text came in than have his phone mutilated.

At least Tate was being good. She was sound asleep strapped into her car seat in the middle of the back seat. Her pacifier drooped out of her mouth… A ticking time bomb. That was all Casey needed was for her to wake up and start screaming while he was driving, especially after discovering the night before that the baby had another tooth erupting. When Tate was in pain she let her daddy know about it.

_I'll be glad when Munchkin has all of her teeth in. This teething thing sucks._ "Please tell me you brought Tate's teething ring."

There was silence, save for the radio playing in the background.

"Oops." Faye mumbled.

Casey let out a heavy sigh. "Beer bottle it is, then."

* * *

It was early evening by the time the Dawson's rolled into the small town of Lexington, Missouri located in the western part of the state. Kate gazed longingly out her window at the old time buildings and homes that made up the town. While driving by the county courthouse she noticed something strange about one of the white columns on the front façade; there was a cannonball lodged in the top of it. Beneath the artifact were the words "Battle of Lexington Sept 18-19-20 1861".

"Gabriel, look at that!" Kate jabbed her finger at the glass window to get her husband to take a quick glance.

He gave a small smile. "I know. It's cool, isn't it?"

"Do you think the fuse is still in it?"

"I highly doubt it. I can see a major lawsuit if that thing were to go off."

"But it's like a hundred and fifty or more years old!"

"Doesn't matter. An explosive is an explosive."

"True."

Not too far out of town the trucks turned up a long gravel drive leading to a ranch. They passed by several camps spread out over a couple fields, some tents only half erected and others complete. The group was directed to the very back of the property where a thick tree line cut across the land. At least they would have shade for the horses. While they were well protected from the sun, the ground was questionable; it was strewn with dried out corn stalks and left over cobs, leaving the staubs for someone to trip over.

A cornfield?" Riley cocked an eyebrow. He kicked a dried out ear of corn away from where he stood inspecting their intended campsite.

"I swear if any crop circles start popping up I'm getting the hell outta here," Casey slammed his truck door shut after removing Tate's car seat from the back. "Aliens exist, man!"

Ellen rolled her eyes in annoyance at the man. Just once it would have been nice to go somewhere without Casey being Casey. "Is there ever a time when you don't say anything retarded?"

"You're just in denial, Ellen," Casey pranced passed her with the car seat, tossing his long locks over his shoulder in a show of arrogance. "Maybe if you focused on what matters, you'd know that aliens live among us."

"Casey! Stop egging Ellen on and get over here to help unload the poles for the tents!" Gabriel called from behind the open doors of Rob's trailer. He had already unloaded the plastic tubs containing the canvas tents. Setting up was his least favorite part of reenacting, followed closely by picket duty.

Using the team effort strategy all of the tents plus the flies were erected in a relatively short amount of time despite constantly having to kick corn cobs out of their way just to drive the stakes into the soft earth. There were laughs all around while putting up Casey and Faye's tent when Ellen caught the toe of her boot on a dried out staub and landed face first in a fresh pile of horse manure, courtesy of Rob's horse, Yankee tied up to a tree nearby.

"Ellen, I didn't know you liked being shitfaced so much," Casey snickered at the woman and instantly regretted it.

After spitting out a mouthful of the nasty horse chunks, Ellen swiped a hand across her face, glaring at her enemy. "You better watch your back, Tweedle Dum. I'll strike when you least expect it."

"Ooh, I'm so scared," Casey taunted back. "Bring it, Maleficent."

Seamus stepped in between the two in hopes of preventing a knock-down drag-out. "Alright, children. Let's get back to work, shall we?" He redirected his wife away from Casey, handing her a handkerchief to wipe her face off with. If they could make it through one event without Ellen tearing Casey apart it would be a miracle. _Lord, help us now._

With all their belongings stored safely inside the canvas tents and the flaps tied shut, everyone piled into the trucks to head to town for food and to investigate the old buildings lining the streets. They had plenty of daylight left, so it wasn't like they had to rush back to the camp. That was when shoveling down a few large pizzas sounded like a wonderful idea.

The men's eyes bugged out when their waitress placed three massive supreme pizzas in the center of the long table the family and Sean and Ava sat at. There was enough pizza in front of them to feed a small army. They wasted no time, slapping two or three slices on each of their plates.

Faye demolished her first slice in less than a minute and a half. Noticing the awkward stares from a few of the others, she replied, "What? I'm hungry."

"We can see that," Seamus chuckled. "What, are you eating for two now?"

Silence.

Thinking nothing of it, Seamus stuffed the rest of his crust into his mouth before starting on his second slice. "So, do you think this town has any cool history tours we could go on? It would give us something to do before the battle."

Gabriel cleared his throat, "The Oliver Anderson House north of town."

"What's that, dear?" Mae questioned.

"It's a house that was caught in the middle of the Battle of Lexington. It changed hands three times during one point of the battle. Bullet holes riddle the outside and inside of the house, and there was even a cannon ball that went on a war path through the upper levels."

"That's badass." Casey put in, his mouth full of food.

Gabriel rolled his eyes at his cousin. "And before you ask, yes, they are real bullet holes… from the actual battle."

"But how do you know they're from the Civil War? They could be from a different battle."

"Ellen… do you want to do the honors?" Gabriel's face remained straight, emotionless.

The scarlet-haired woman eased herself up from her chair, her cobalt eyes fixed on the man sitting diagonal across the table, a psychotic grin turning up the corners of her plump lips. "How fast can you run, Casey?" _Not fast enough. We know this for a fact._ Her slender fingers curled around the glass of water near her plate, mind set on bashing the glass over Casey's head. Her plans were redirected when Seamus grabbed her by the belt loop and yanked her back down in her seat. Ellen pouted, "Damn, Seamus! Always ruining my fun."

"Ellie, be a lady for once," her husband turned to face his brother. "And Gabriel, don't give her any more ideas."

Gabriel took a long drink from his glass and then replied, "Oh, alright. Besides, it's not much fun listening to Casey when he gets a boo-boo."

"I wouldn't call a concussion a boo-boo, Gabe." Casey retorted.

Ellen spoke through a mouthful of pizza, no longer interested in maiming her husband's cousin, "Stop your bitchin', Casey. I didn't kill you."

"Yet," he added below his breath.

The remainder of their dinner was spent discussing the plans for the battle the following day. From the sound of things, the cavalry unit wouldn't be seeing much action, just a small skirmish off to the side of the main battle. After seeing the disappointed faces around the table Gabriel had to explain the reasoning behind the plans to cheer them up.

"The coordinators don't want the horses getting hurt with all of those ears of corn lying around. All it would take would be for one of them stepping on an ear wrong and you'd wind up with a broken leg, and ultimately a dead animal." His explanation may have been quite gruesome, but he was positive it got the message across.

"So, what if we went rogue and stirred up a bigger battle anyways?" Sean questioned from his chair beside Gabriel.

"We would probably get kicked out."

Sean snorted. "Look, I didn't come all this way to not play," he turned his gaze upon his best friend. "It's time for our general to grow a set and break a few rules."

Gabriel leaned back in his chair with his arms folded over his chest as he contemplated what Sean had suggested about doing their own thing. Sean was right, he was all for defying the rules made by the Yankee coordinators to do what he loved most.

"Time to start whistlin' Dixie, ladies and gents." A huge grin spread from ear to ear at the thought of what was to come that weekend. The 1st Texas Cavalry would give the audience something to remember.


End file.
